Domestic Tensions, National Anxieties: Global Perspectives on Marriage, Crisis, and Nation

297 Pages·2016·14.61 MB·English

by  Kristin Celello

Domestic Tensions,
National Anxieties

Domestic Tensions,
National Anxieties
Global Perspectives on Marriage,
Crisis, and Nation
Edited by
Kristin Celello
and
Hanan KHoloussy
1
1
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Domestic tensions, national anxieties: global perspectives on marriage, crisis,
and nation / edited by Kristin Celello and Hanan Kholoussy.
pages cm
Includes index.
ISBN 978–0–19–985674–9 (hardcover: alk. paper) — ISBN 978–0–19–985673–2
(pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Marriage—Social aspects—History. 2. Social problems.
3. Crises. 4. Civilization, Modern. I. Celello, Kristin. II. Kholoussy, Hanan.
HQ519.D637 2016
306.81—dc23
2015018908
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed by Sheridan, USA
For our sons

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Contributors xi
Introduction: Global Perspectives on Marriage, Crisis,
and Nation 1
Kristin Celello and Hanan Kholoussy
1. Marital Choice and Marital Crisis in Late Imperial Russia 16
Barbara Alpern Engel
2. Marriage, Manumission, and Morality in Turn-
of- the- Century Rio de Janeiro 37
Erica M. Windler
3. Marriage Crisis and All That Jazz 49
Nancy F. Cott
4. Marriage and Minority: The Indian Nation, the Muslim
Question, and the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929 67
Ishita Pande
5. Mixed Marriage in Colonial Burma: National Identity
and Nationhood at Risk 89
Tin Tin Htun
6. Materialism, Contention, and Rebellion: The Changing
Demands on Marriage in Colonial Zanzibar 108
Elke E. Stockreiter
viii CONTENTS
7. Finding a Grand Amour in Marriage in Postwar France 126
Rebecca J. Pulju
8. Wedding Marriage to the Nation- State in Modern China: Legal
Consequences for Divorce, Property, and Women’s Rights 147
Ke Li and Sara L. Friedman
9. Woman- to- Woman, Polyandrous, and Child Marriage: Expressions
and Contestations of Marriage Rights in Colonial and Independent
Nigeria 170
Nwando Achebe
10. What Kind of Crisis? Marriage and Masculinity in Contemporary
Iranian Cinema 192
Amy Motlagh
11. Marriage and Family in Crisis in Contemporary Japan 212
Jeff Kingston
12. Imagined Crises: Assessing Evidence of Delayed Marriage
and Never- Marriage in Contemporary Egypt 231
Rania Salem
Selected Readings 255
Index 267
Acknowledgments
Domestic Tensions, National Anxieties began as a conversation between
a historian of the United States and a historian of Egypt. We had both
recently published books, one arguing that early twentieth- century
fears about increasing divorce rates had led to new ways of talking
about marriage and promoting marital success in America, the other
that a perceived rejection of marriage by middle- class men in the
same time period had served as a repository for intense debates about
the formation and direction of a newly modern Egyptian nation. Each
work identified and analyzed a significant “marriage crisis,” interro-
gating its roots, manifestations, and outcomes. While the American
and Egyptian crises were dissimilar in important ways, the differ-
ences paled in comparison to larger commonalities. The existence of
a sense of crisis specifically inspired by shifting marriage discourses
and norms, as well as larger socioeconomic and political events, sug-
gested significant parallels between the two cases and raised ques-
tions that demanded further investigation. This book is the result of
our effort to explore the relationship between marriage, crisis, and
the nation on a global, interdisciplinary scale.
We would like to thank Kristina Richardson, Kristin’s colleague
at Queens College, who first alerted us to one another’s work. Susan
Ferber at Oxford University Press has offered invaluable guidance
from the inception of this project and through its many “crises”
along the way. We are grateful to the scholars who kindly responded